The 66th annual Grammy Awards were last night at the Crypto.com Arena in the not-so-sunny Los Angeles, California. As storms raged outside the arena, I tuned in for close to five hours of red carpet coverage and the sparkling ceremony to watch music's biggest night and make my own judgments.
At some points agonizing, the Grammys truly take their time. Packing performance after performance, people going well over their speech time, and leaving the main awards for the very end can feel never-ending. However, this year's Grammy Awards had everything: Taylor Swift announcing a brand new album, Tortured Poet's Department, Miley Cyrus getting her first two Grammy's and delivering iconic speeches and performances, nods to Barbie, a visit from Celine Dion and a few controversial decisions.
I mean, even Jay-Z took a shot at the Recording Academy for not giving Beyonce any Album of the Year awards despite having the most nominations. Taylor Swift brought Lana Del Rey on stage while accepting Album of the Year for Midnights to recognize how many artists' sounds Del Rey's influenced despite never having won a nomination. The Academy gets it wrong, and often.
Who Won At The 2024 Grammys?
Here are some winners from a few of the main categories, including the top four awards...And may I add that some of my predictions were spot on?
Record of the Year: "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus
Album of the Year: Midnights by Taylor Swift
Song of the Year: "What Was I Made For" by Billie Eilish and FINNEAS
Best New Artist: Victoria Monet
Producer of the Year: Jack Antonoff
Best Pop Solo Performance: "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus
Best Pop Duo Performance: "Ghost in the Machine" by SZA and Phoebe Bridgers
Best Pop Vocal Album: Midnights by Taylor Swift
Best Pop Dance Recording: "Padam Padam" by Kylie Minogue
Best Rock Performance: "Not Strong Enough" by boygenius
Best Country Album: Bell Bottom Country by Lainey Wilson
Best R&B Song: "Snooze" by SZA
Who Should've Won At The 2024 Grammys?
The Grammy Awards are decided by the Academy- a group of voters within the music industry who I sometimes think forget to listen to the music of the nominees. It's why Jay-Z spoke up while receiving the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, it is quite shocking that Beyonce has never won Album of the Year.
While everyone at the Grammy's deserves their awards, multiple artists got onstage to say this is not what they make music for. Artists like Miley Cyrus said she felt this happy yesterday because she's doing it for herself. Taylor Swift thanks her fans, and says she's happiest when making songs and doing what she loves...but sometimes, the awards gods are fickle.
Olivia Rodrigo's "Vampire" went home empty-handed, which was another surprise. While GUTS may not be my favorite work of Rodrigo's, "Vampire" was a chart-topping, viral song that I truly thought would win something. SZA's SOS album was on top of the Billboard Hot 100 every week but failed to receive a mention in the top categories like Album of the Year.
Lana Del Rey, who's been nominated upwards of 10 times and wrote one of the best albums in the culmination of her already iconic discography with Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard? Received zero awards throughout the night. In a controversial move, Taylor Swift brought her up on stage so the world can recognize all Lana's done.
In the Best New Artist category, Ice Spice and Noah Kahan were betting favorites to win...but ultimately, it went to Victoria Monét.
The Best Performances From The Grammys
Miley Cyrus
@mileycyrus ♬ original sound - Miley Cyrus
It's been years since Cyrus has graced any sort of stage, and she didn't disappoint. Every bit as honest, exciting, and a true rockstar as she's ever been, Miley Cyrus is one-of-a-kind. From chiding the audience for not singing along to celebrating her first Grammy win during her performance of "Flowers", you could tell that Miley just wanted to have fun.
She even shared she was doing this performance so she could watch clips of it later...and also admitted to foregoing underwear. It was fun, carefree, and exactly how these award shows should be.
Joni Mitchell
You may wonder how someone with as illustrious a career as Joni Mitchell has never performed at the Grammy's. Singing a song she wrote at 21 years old, over half a century later, "Both Sides Now" was both moving and refreshing. She's won nine Grammy's herself, nominated 18 times, and has inspired the sounds of our favorite artists.
She took folk music and made it her own, and after having to re-learn how to talk (and sing) from a brain aneurysm, no one is more well-respected in the industry than Mitchell.
Luke Combs + Tracy Chapman
Luke Combs' cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" dominated the charts this year. One of the most highly covered songs in the world, and Luke Combs put his country spin on it to create a beautiful, acoustic version. It feels almost entirely his own, but his performance with OG Tracy Chapman shows that music is, indeed, art.
The song itself is a timeless classic, with Luke Combs being one of the most talented country vocalists in the game right now and Tracy Chapman reminding us the deep roots of the song.
Other Notable Grammy Moments
It was a crazy night, in all honesty...with too many moments to mention, but there are a few major points to be made:
- Killer Mike won three Grammy awards including Best Rap Album, but was immediately arrested at the ceremony
- Upon announcing The Tortured Poet's Department, Swifties quickly uncovered a report that ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn, Paul Mescal, and Andrew Scott's group chat was once called "Tortured Men's Club" - so count your days, Alwyn.
- "Water" singer Tyla won the first-ever Award for African Music Performance
